


Iridesence

by demonsushi01



Series: Klance Trope Month 2k20 [11]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alien Planet, Aliens, Dancing, Jealous Lance (Voltron), M/M, POV Lance (Voltron), They save the day and there's a party, and a coronation, but you can easily ignore them, there's hints of other ships in it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-12
Updated: 2020-05-12
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:27:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24137356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/demonsushi01/pseuds/demonsushi01
Summary: Day 11. ProtectiveLance and Keith have just started dating and are working on telling the rest of the crew. However, after saving another planet they're invited to a thank-you party. Allura, seeing the diplomatic opportunity accepts the invite, and the crew finds themselves there. Nothing could possibly go wrong, right?
Relationships: Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Series: Klance Trope Month 2k20 [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1727086
Comments: 6
Kudos: 252
Collections: Voltron Stars🌌





	Iridesence

After they do their usual Voltron thing, saving a planet from Galra forces, the grateful leaders offer them a private reception from the upper class. Lance kind of wishes it’d be open to all the social classes. However, Allura accepts the invitation and starts going over a few do’s and don'ts with this culture. Coran even helps her demonstrate some of the interactions, but Lance pays it a grain of salt. Most of the time, the information they have is out of date. Besides, it’s not like he doesn’t know how to act at a formal event.

He glances over at Keith who looks just as bored. He stretches his arm out under the table, his pinky hooking with Keith’s. He jolts and looks over to Lance. The two share a small and soft smile before watching Coran show off how to bow. He has Shiro come over to try it out and Shiro simply sighs.

“Have you told him yet?” Lance whispers to Keith. 

“...No. Not yet.” Keith frowns but he knows it’s directed at his actions not at him. It’s something Lance has learned rather quickly about Keith in the short month they’ve been dating. So far, he’s told Hunk about it, who was rather chill and excited about the whole ordeal. He’s been waiting for a good time to let Pidge know. 

“It’s okay, you know?” Lance looks over to him. Keith was supposed to be in charge of telling Shiro about their new relationship, and with Shiro’s help inform Allura and Coran.

“I know, I’m just worried. It’s kinda dumb too because I _know_ he’d be okay with it.” Keith sighs. They both watch Shiro bow deeply in front of Allura, back straight and hands at his sides. Coran is quite surprised and Allura even congratulates him for getting it right on the first try.

Shiro is trying so hard to play it off, but Keith ends up calling him out on it. In turn, Shiro has Keith come up to bow next and Lance watches him go. Allura, Coran, and Shiro then spend the next hour teaching everyone a proper bow. Then it’s food goo and bed. 

Keith slips into his room after everyone is in bed. Lance shakes his head but smiles, letting him curl up under his blankets and hold him for the night sequence. In the morning, Lance makes sure to check the coast is clear before waving Keith to join him in leaving his room. As they walk the halls to the dining area their hands brush and Lance wants nothing more than to grab Keith’s hand. But until everyone knows, he can’t. 

So he doesn’t.

They eat, practice some more of what’s appropriate and what’s not, a few rounds of Paladin training, they eat again, clean up around the castle, and then it’s time to go planetside. Shiro, after a few minutes of polite bickering with Allura, pilots the pod down to the surface where they’re designated to meet. Lance looks at the pair in the front of the pod.

“I’m still saying that _I_ am fully capable of piloting this pod. More so than you, since I’ve flown them all my life.” Allura crosses her arms.

“And I respect that. However, we wouldn’t want to give off the wrong impression of the hierarchy between us and you.”

“So you admit I’m _more_ qualified then?” She looks over at him.

“I may not have flown Altean craft all my life, but I _am_ a trained pilot. I can handle it.” Shiro glances over to her.

“I can’t believe Mom and Dad are fighting,” Lance says loud enough for the two to hear, a bit tired of the comments back and forth. It has the effect he wants when Shiro jumps and clears his throat while Allura looks back at him a bit confused.

“We’re not --” Shiro starts but falls silent when Allura looks over at him. Lance snickers and a glance at Keith next to him shows him doing the same.

“Oh my god, you’re right.” Hunk mumbles. 

“Ugh, worse than mine.” Pidge agrees, leaning against Hunk’s side. He doesn’t seem to be bothered by it, in fact, he moves his arm so they can better settle against him and he lets his arm fall around their shoulders. Lance gives it a suspicious squint and looks back to Hunk who gives a curious twitch of his eyebrow at Lance’s silent question.

He supposes he can let it slide for now. And considering they’re landing in their designated area, he’ll _have_ to. 

They meet with the leaders and Lance finally gets a better look at the people they’ve saved. The Terraline have a diversity similar to humans, the shortest one in the court being only a few inches taller than Pidge to the tallest a good two feet over Shiro and Hunk. Most have dark opalescent skin like the leaders do, but some are a bit more on the fair side. All seem to have four arms, four jewel-like eyes, and long hair. He can’t exactly tell the difference between a masculine form or a feminine form, not even the leaders themselves use a gendered title like King or Queen, preferring to simply be ‘Leader’. 

The two Leaders inform the team that not only will they be celebrating their liberation but also be appointing their successor, a feat they had not thought would be possible in their lifetimes. Allura conveys the honor the team feels and thanks them for inviting Voltron to such a significant event in their history. The Leaders smile and say it is the least they could do to thank Voltron. 

Guards come over and escort each paladin away individually, which Lance knows doesn’t sit well with Keith and Shiro. The Leaders tell them that it’s just so they can be dressed appropriately for the event. Allura also has to reassure everyone she would be fine, which is another reason why being singled out doesn’t sit well. Lance makes a big show out of going with the guard by his side, hoping it would encourage his team to do so as well. 

“Your group is strange.” The guard comments to him. 

“Are we?” Lance tilts his head.

“I don’t mean it in a bad way.”

“Well, we are different from you. Some strangeness is to be expected I suppose.” He points out and it seems to reassure his guard. They lead him to a room, opening the door where another Terraline is standing. The guard pauses for a moment and Lance can tell they have a question on their tongue.

“Yes?”

“Do forgive me if this seems too, _brash_ , but may I ask what happened to your other arms?” The guard finally caves.

“Oh, humans only have two,” Lance answers easily. 

“I see. How strange indeed.” They hum and then bow leaving Lance in the room with the other Terraline. 

“Hi there, I’m Lance.” He smiles and greets. The room is octagonal shaped and lined with mirrors and Lance isn’t sure he _wants_ to see this much of himself. The Terraline is standing a fair distance away next to a few clear storage cases.

“Hello, Lance. I will be assisting you in getting dressed for tonight’s event.” They bow. 

“Alright, thanks.” 

They have Lance stand in the center of the room, their four hands touching different parts of him. Two on his shoulders, two on his waist. Then two on his biceps and two on his forearms. He wonders if this is their way of measuring him. 

“Thank you.” The Terraline then steps away from him and opens one of the cases they have. They hum a soft tune to themself as they pull various pieces out of the containers and Lance wonders how the others are handling this. 

Allura’s probably enjoying it, he thinks. Something to get her into a new set of clothes that are just for her. Pidge is probably hating it and he can’t tell if they’d be put into a dress or not. Considering the court he’s seen didn’t wear any, he’s not sure if they even _have_ dresses. Hunk probably feels a little self-conscious because of the mirrors but is probably talking up a storm to the Terraline he’s with to keep his mind off it. Shiro, he’s not sure other than maybe not good.

Keith though is definitely freaking out. That he’s fairly certain of. With the door behind him also having a mirror on it, it blends into the walls and makes it hard to tell where he came from. Meaning his boyfriend had probably spun himself around lost where the door was and might be getting claustrophobic and paranoid. He shakes his head with a small smile, _poor guy_. 

“Lance, right?” The Terraline looks over at him, one set of arms full of shimmering blue fabric.

“Yeah?” He looks over at them. They hum as they debate on the question. 

“Are you taken?” They ask. “Ah, forgive me if it’s too much.” They wave their second hands around.

“Oh no, it’s fine.” He smiles. “I… I am, but we haven’t been together for very long and not everyone knows about it.” He rubs the back of his neck. 

“So it is someone from your group?” They tilt their head.

“Yeah.”

“Is it the one in yellow?” They turn back to their cases. “No one would blame you if you were with the one in yellow.”

“Nah, Hunk’s just a good friend of mine.” Lance smiles.

“The green one then?”

“Nope.”

“I would ask if it’s the one in black but he seemed more concerned about your Princess.” They glance over their shoulder. 

“It’s not Shiro either.”

“So it _is_ the one in red.” They smile knowingly and nod, going back to the cases. Lance feels a heat rise to his face.

“Is it obvious?”

“Perhaps to me.” They come over with their materials. “My unit is a bit more sensitive to the shapes and feelings of others. It’s what makes us good at what we do. If you may please remove your armor?” _Oh yeah, Keith is definitely freaking out_.

He pulls the pieces off and the Terraline takes them with their free arms. They then pass him the mass of fabric and put his armor in an empty case. Lance does his best to get dressed but in the end, the Terraline helps him out. It’s far too large on him though, and he gives them a questioning look. They tug on two of the loosest ends and the whole outfit shifts, clinging to his body like it was made for him. 

“Oh!” He then looks himself over in the mirrors around him. It looks like ocean waves over his torso, shades of blue crashing and colliding with soft whites. There are shimmering crystals embedded into it showcasing the splashes and he whistles. The crystals even follow the shape of his arms on the mesh sleeves. It goes well with the dark navy pants that has him really checking every angle he can of them. 

“One last piece.” The Terraline says, as they grasp the collar of the shirt and pull it out of their way. It leaves his neck open for a moment but they are quick to clip a cord around it, a bright red gem in its center, sitting at the hollow of his throat. They nod, put the collar back in place, and clasp all four hands together.

“What do you think?” They ask.

“It’s beautiful.” He tells them. They smile brightly.

“Wonderful. Let’s take you out to your group then.”

They take him by his hand and lead him out to the hallway before returning back to their room. He finds Pidge dressed in soft greens with darker green pants. It’s not nearly as sparkly as his but it really suits them. Hunk steps out moments later, decked out in yellow with golden bands around his wrists. He laughs a bit nervously when he sees the two.

“It’s pretty fancy get up.” He says.

“Tell me about it, I don’t mind it though.” Lance shows his outfit off. He has to make sure to hold his comments when Shiro comes out in blacks and purples that swirl together, arms exposed. He looks a bit uncomfortable especially when he notices who is still missing.

“Keith?” He asks them all.

“Not out yet.” Hunk shrugs. Lance worries too and tries to keep smiling despite the anxious swell building in his gut. 

But Keith is stepping out soon enough and Lance tries to remember how to breathe and to keep it cool. If Lance’s outfit is like an ocean, Keith’s is a roaring fire. Golds and reds spark across his shoulders, down his chest, where it’s replaced with smokey grey mesh along his arms and sides, before turning to pitch black at his wrists and pants. And if it weren’t for the red gemstone at his neck, he would’ve missed the blue one that’s mirrored on Keith. 

“Good, you’re all ready.” Comes Allura’s voice as she walks down the hall. A beautiful white and pink dress with a low cut. He thinks he catches sight of a few markings he hadn’t seen before on her, but she adjusts her baby blue shawl over her shoulders, hiding them from view once again. 

He chooses not to mention anything about the purple jewels in her hair and clipped to her ears. He instead follows the princess with the rest of the team out of the hallway. Lance looks over at Keith, their hands brushing again. Keith licks his lips and falls back, making sure the team is in front of them before reaching his hand out and hooking his pinky with Lance’s. He chuckles softly but looks ahead. 

They drop hands when they make it to the ballroom floor. The Leaders introduce them to the people who have congregated to the event. Lance makes sure to put his best foot forward as he walks around and chats with some of the people attending. He can see Hunk doing the same, Pidge and Keith finding a corner they can back themselves into, Allura dragging Shiro with her to keep him from joining them. He chuckles under his breath as Shiro lets Allura lead the conversations and chimes in when he’s asked. He looks _more_ uncomfortable. 

They pause the celebrations to introduce the Successor. Lance can admit they’re very pretty, dark opalescent skin like their parents, sharp blue eyes, and dressed in beautiful lilacs. The Leaders perform the ceremony, each dipping the fingers of one hand into a molten silver and tracing symbols that must hold high meaning to the Terraline people along the Successor’s arms and face. There’s a second of miscommunication between the humans and everyone else when they all bow, though Lance and the others are quick to join the collective bow. 

The Successor has everyone rise up, holds a small speech in which they thank Voltron once again for the liberation of their home. With that, food is brought out and Lance knows Hunk’s going to be busy talking to the chefs now. Though he doesn’t get too far before the Successor takes him by the arm and leads him through a few dances. 

He snickers as Hunk stumbles around a bit before finding the rhythm to the movements. They let him leave and nab Pidge from their corner next. Pidge is ungraceful through the whole thing, but the Successor doesn’t seem to mind all that much and is enjoying the dance regardless. Pidge is eventually spared when they swap to Allura. She keeps pace easily even though some of her moves look a little different. 

She grabs Shiro who was trying to escape and passes him to the Successor next. He’s sadly as good as Pidge is which has them in a slight fit of giggles. Shiro politely declines another dance and returns to Allura’s side with a slightly annoyed look. She just shrugs innocently and Lance covers his laugh. Then the Successor comes and takes his hand. 

“Good evening, Successor.” He smiles as they walk to the floor.

“Good eve, Lance of the Blue Lion.” They smile back. They come up to his chin but stockier than he is. They get into a dancing position and lead him through a few steps.

It’s not too hard he notes, keeping time with the music and following the lead. The Successor laughs softly.

“Well, you’re already one of the better dancers tonight.” They say. “Some of your unit is not that great at it.” 

“Unit?” He tilts his head curiously, he knows the Terraline who helped him get dressed used the word, but everyone else has referred to them as a group.

“Oh, are you all unrelated?” They ask.

“We’re not family, we don’t share blood.” He says, hoping that it will clear the air.

“I see, my apologies then.” They smile. 

“It’s alright. So I take it, ‘unit’ is for people who are family?”

“Those in a unit are related to one another.” They nod.

“And a group is unrelated people together?”

“Yes. Though groups can easily make new units.” 

“Makes sense.” Lance nods, ducking under their arm when they raise it for a twirl. 

He chats with the Successor about a few other things before they’re done dancing with him for the time being. They lead him off the floor with a bright smile. 

“Thank you for the dances.” They incline their head to him and he automatically repeats the gesture, a bit lower than they did.

“The pleasure was all mine.”

“May I ask you a favor?”

“Of course!” He looks back at them. 

“Can you retrieve Keith of the Red Lion for me?” They ask. 

“Yeah! Might take me a bit but I’ll bring him over.” Lance promises with a wink and they chuckle softly. 

He leaves them to go and track down his boyfriend. Keith is still pressed into his corner, arms crossed over his chest. Lance shakes his head as he walks over to him. 

“Is this seriously what you do when Hunk or I don’t pull you away from the wall?” He asks. 

“I just don’t like crowds that much.” Keith sighs, already relaxing his posture. 

“Well, you’re going to hate me for this then.”

“For what?”

“The Successor wants to dance with you, man.”

“I don’t know how to.” Keith curls in on himself. 

“It’s fine if you don’t, they’re just having fun.” Lance takes him by the arm and leads him out to the floor. “Come on, I’ve seen you with your sword, you’re light on your feet and _technically_ a bit graceful. Just treat the footwork like a swordfight if you have to.”

“...I guess.” Keith rolls his eyes. “I have no choice in this manner do I?”

“Not really.” Lance gives him an apologetic smile and then leads him over to the Successor. 

They smile and thank Lance, taking Keith by his arm and dragging him to the floor. Keith gives him a longing look over his shoulder as he’s pulled away. He watches the Successor dance, or well, watches _Keith_ dance. He’s doing surprisingly well, staying on his toes almost and doing more of the leading. It looks good. _He_ looks good.

He wishes he was the one holding him close and following the pulse and beat of the music. Lance steals a cup of liquid and wonders if it’s safe for human consumption before shrugging and sipping on it. It’s mostly a distraction after all from the burning feeling in his chest. The liquid just tastes like water and he’s thankful for it. 

He eventually joins Hunk by the food, taking bites of things the guy thinks he’d like. True to his word he does enjoy them. Hunk also shares in his relief they’re being offered some form of water rather than something intoxicating. Pidge scares the shit out of him when they appear by his side commenting on how the culture doesn’t seem to care that much for non-sobriety. They then point to the Successor leading Keith off the floor, something like relief floods his veins when he glances over and sees it too.

But they lead Keith over to their parents, the Leaders, and sudden anxiety spikes through him. He can tell from the taut line of Keith’s shoulders that he’s on edge. So Lance looks around for Shiro or Allura for help. He finds them talking with a group of people and he’s quick to move over there. He gets stopped several times by other Terraline who want to talk with him, and he does his best to be polite.

He keeps glancing at Keith though, the guy hasn’t settled down one bit but at least they’re away from the Leaders. He’s not sure if he appreciates the way they fold themselves to his side though. The Successor has apparently chosen him to accompany them as they walk around. They rest their hand almost _lovingly_ over his chest and give him warm smiles. Keith just smiles back, tight-lipped and awkward. Lance casually makes his way over to them instead, listening to the conversations the two are having. 

It’s clear to him that the Successor has apparently found Keith to their liking, though he can’t _blame_ them for it since he does too, it still bruises him. They say flowery sweet lines, complements pouring from the mouth like wine and holding him closer and closer with each word. Keith seems to be handling it well, nodding to the lines, thanking each compliment, trying not to pull away each time they inch closer. It’s good he’s being diplomatic, but _god_ does it burn and bruise and break his heart. 

He can barely hold Keith’s hand around his team, yet this person is allowed to press up against him? He hasn’t even _kissed_ Keith and the Successor won’t stop staring at Keith’s lips when he speaks. He hates it, incredibly so, that he has such a fit of jealousy in him over a small thing. 

_It’s not a small thing though_ , he reminds himself. _That’s_ your _boyfriend after all._ He eventually can’t take it anymore, cutting through the crowd and approaching the two. 

“Excuse me, Successor.” He hopes his smile is polite as he greets them.

“Yes?” They tilt their head.

“I need to borrow Keith for a moment.” 

“Oh, of course!” They pass him to Lance who bows politely and pulls his boyfriend to a quiet corner of the room. 

“I was about to ask if everything’s okay, but I can see you’re clearly peeved,” Keith says. 

“I’m just tired of them getting all up on you okay?” Lance crosses his arms. He laughs softly and Lance looks over at him.

“This is no laughing matter, Keith!”

“I’m not even interested in them, Lance.” He says. 

“I -- I know that!” 

“Are you sure?”

“...Yes.” He looks away. Keith reaches out, takes Lance’s hand in his.

“Well if you want to _protect_ me from them, I guess you’ll have to stay next to me then.” He says looking at their hands and up to him. 

“And hold hands?” Lance asks.

“Obviously.” He smirks.

“What about Shiro and them?”

“It’s not like they’ll know unless you kiss me.” Keith points out. “Which, you know, doesn’t sound too bad of an idea now.”

“Seriously!? _Now_ is when you want to kiss?”

“Yeah.” Keith nods. 

“You’re the most ridiculous person I know, and that _includes_ Slav and myself.” 

“But you wouldn’t have it any other way would you?”

“No,” He sighs. “I wouldn’t.” It’s the truth of it too. 

“Also, they _might_ be trying to get me to agree to marry them and I don’t know how to politely turn them down when they ignored my comment of _‘I’m already spoken for’,_ ” Keith admits. 

“Ah, there it is.” Lance tilts his head back and groans. “That’s the chaotic neutral mess that I call my boyfriend.”

“Chaotic neutral? Shouldn’t I at least be good?”

“You’d sell me out for a corn chip, don’t lie.”

“I wouldn’t!” Keith balks and Lance raises a brow. “You’re worth at _least_ two.” 

“Oh. My god. You’re the worst.” He laughs despite his words. It cuts off awkwardly when Keith squeezes his hand and Lance looks back down at them. He shifts their hands until their fingers are interlaced. It calms him down. 

The Successor does seem to catch on that he won’t let go of Keith’s hand even when they come back around to try and take him. They then apologize with a blush on their face and state they hadn’t meant to come between the two.

“I didn’t know that was what you had meant. I thought it was, someone else would speak for you.” They cover their face with two of their hands while the other two twist together.

“It’s weird human phrasing, it’s not your fault.” Keith, bless his heart, tries to tell them. They do seem to be reassured by his words. 

The rest of the night goes off without a hitch, the Successor eventually dancing with another Terraline and finding a new person to hold onto. 

“I think this might be the last song of the night.” Lance hums as he watches everyone.

“And?” Keith looks over at him. 

“I want to dance with you.” He smiles.

“...Okay.”

“You sure?”

“With you? Always.” He nods. Lance shakes his head and leads him to the dance floor. He takes the lead following the slow music and gently moves them around. 

“People are staring,” Keith mumbles ducking his head into Lance's shoulder. 

“Let them.” Lance chuckles. “It's probably because we’re doing different moves.” He says and Keith hums thoughtfully. He lifts his arm, Keith ducking under it for a small spin and gasping when Lance pulls him in close.

“You have no idea how much I want to kiss you right now.”

“Then do it, coward.” Keith challenges him. And Lance has never been one to back down from a challenge, especially from Keith. So he leans forward, presses their lips together as he continues to rock them to the beat. Keith sighs happily against his lips and changes his hold on Lance, bringing both his arms around his shoulders instead of one on his waist and one in his hand.

Lance acknowledges the soft murmur of voices but is too busy focusing on the feel of Keith in his arms. It’s everything he wanted and when they pull back he can count the stars in his eyes. 

Later they get quite a scolding from Allura and Shiro who both deem what they did not as appropriate for the situation they were in, while at the same time being congratulated for their new relationship. It’s a strange talk, but most are now that he’s with Keith he supposes. But he truly wouldn’t have it any other way.

**Author's Note:**

> I legit typed this while working and for 99% of the time the Terraline were just [alien] until I fixed it.  
> What a boring name for a cool concept of aliens lmaooo
> 
> Feel free to drop me a line here or over at demon-sushi at Tumblr, I do my best to respond to every comment <3


End file.
